


If Things Were Different [a cryprev reverse au]

by synth3t1cn1ghtm4r3



Category: apex legends - Fandom
Genre: bye, crypto’s a simulacrum so that’s pretty cool, go home pleas, okay have a good day, please ignore this fic entirely unless your name is crypto, reverse au, uhhhh revenant is a dumb bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:49:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27156871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/synth3t1cn1ghtm4r3/pseuds/synth3t1cn1ghtm4r3
Summary: yeah no it’s just a cryprev reverse au [before the games]
Relationships: Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Revenant
Kudos: 12





	1. This Is Familiar

A lone programmer seemed to be working on something for a client yet again, but, this isn’t the programmer we know- this one’s different. He’s taller, with messy blonde hair and blue eyes too. His apartment is much different as well, much cleaner than whoever we originally thought this programmer was. Well, we know who he is now at least. Elijah Jennings, or as he goes by online, TheRevenant_, or simply just ‘ Revenant ‘. 

His boss had set him up on another difficult job, giving him yet another strict deadline knowing fully well it would take him longer than that. So, there he was, rushing to complete something for a client who was paying such a steep price for some dirt on Vinson Dynamics. Why Vinson of all people.. ? Who knows. The price is what interested him anyways. 

The deadline said it was due by 8:30 AM the next day, meaning he’d have to be up all night trying to crack this thing. It wasn’t that he wasn’t good enough to try and get it cracked, he could do it. Vinson Dynamics had a history of rigging their data, making it easy to set off a virus. God, did he hate his boss, but he didn’t have any backup plans and knew no one else would take him. 

He’d been at this for a good three hours now, and he was already beginning to get sleepy. Good thing he had a fridge full of energy drinks.

[] 

The hacker had finished up the project about an hour ago, putting it on a flash drive to take to the client in a few hours. He’d been trying to get a nap in when he had woken up to a whirring sound in his living room. He froze where he lay in his bed, slowly turning to look towards his bedroom door. Quietly, he stepped out of bed, making his way out into the hallway. This all seemed a little too familiar...

A drone whirred in the entrance to the hallway, as if scanning the living room before it. In the living room stood a tall, robotic figure that almost seemed human. Almost. It wore a hooded scarf, hiding the back of it’s head. It seemed to be searching for something in the living room, carefully moving things as to not make a commotion. 

Elijah seemed interested in whatever the creature was doing, taking a small step closer to the living room. One, small, wrong step. A board in the floor made a long, shrill, creaking sound. The robotic figure froze, the drone turning to look at the hacker. Shit. 

The drone whizzed up to the hacker, examining him up and down. It made a harsh beeping noise, as if to question the hacker. The figure in the living room turned, it’s glowing green eyes locking onto where Elijah stood. 

“ Where is it ? “ The voice came from the direction of the robot, who seemed to have no mouth. It’s voice was somewhat deep, but had an oddly soft harshness behind it. Almost like that of someone who wanted to seem cold, uncaring.

“ Hva? “ Elijah mumbled softly, frozen where he stood. Maybe, just maybe if he spoke in his native tongue then the robot would assume he didn’t speak English and leave him alone.

“ Don’t play coy, baegchi. The information on Vinson. I’m not going to ask again. “ The robot’s voice grew a tad harsher as he slowly moved closer to the blonde. 

“ I- I can’t give you tha- “ Before he could finish, the hacker was cut off as the robot sped towards him, picking him up by the collar of his shirt. 

“ You can and will tell me where it is. I don’t think you’d like to see what happens if you don’t. “ The robot spoke harshly, tilting his head as his face came closer to the hackers.

Well, this was quite the predicament, wasn’t it?


	2. Hackernapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a blonde hacker gets kidnapped by a monochrome and green simulacrum.

Elijah seemed to wake with a start, jolting upright. He winced in pain as he did so, not seeming to realizing just how much pain he was in. Where was he.. ? 

He wasn’t in his apartment any more, but he didn’t recognize his surroundings. The room was dark, and he was on a lone bed. There was a singular light on, a lamp in the corner of the room. He looked to his left, seeing a window, though the curtain blocked his view of the outside. There wasn’t much to the room other than the lamp and the bed. There were two doors, one had a piece of paper taped to it that said ‘ bathroom ‘. The other must’ve been the exit then. How did he get here... ?

The shirtless programmer blinked softly, trying his best to remember exactly what happened. The figure- the robot. A robot broke into his house, and caught him. But what happened after that.. ? Why did his back hurt? He reached back, flinching as he touched what felt like a giant bandage. Well, that’s new... what happened to his legs.. ? Underneath his ripped up pants were bandaids, yet he couldn’t remember how he got the wounds. He couldn’t even remember how he got to where he was.

He tried again to remember, the memories finally rushing back to him. The robot had asked him for something and he played dumb. The robot hadn’t liked that, and after questioning him more, threw him out of the second story apartment window. He couldn’t remember much after that, but seeing as he was bandaged up, someone must’ve found him.

Elijah pushed himself to stand, pausing to let himself regain balance. Then, he started his walk towards the unlabeled door, which he assumed to be an exit. Upon opening the door, he found he was right. The door led into a hallway, which led to two more doors as well as a small archway. He quietly made his way towards the dimly lit archway, head tilted curiously.

The archway seemed to lead into a living room type area that housed a couch, a tv, and a small work area. In the small work area was a setup that reminded him of his own, just much more complicated. There were two three screens- two that seemed to be for a pc, the third seemed to be security cameras. Whoever lived here was still there, seeing as the screens were on. The camera was switched to the one in the hallway, showing him standing in the archway and- something behind him. Something familiar.....

“ You’re awake. “ A familiar voice spoke behind him, causing him to flinch. Elijah slowly turned, looking up to see the robot figure from before. He seemed petrified, unsure of whether to run or fight.

“ Calm down, no one’s going to hurt you. Not again. I lost my temper, joesonghabnida. “ The figure tilted his head, walking past him into the living room area. The robot wasn’t going to hurt him.. ? He seemed untrusting of the creature, not moving from his spot. This earned an odd look from the figure, who patted the couch as he made his way to sit in the computer chair.

Elijah seemed suspicious of the figure, but eventually walked over to the couch to sit down. “ Where- where am I? “ The smaller boy’s Norwegian accent seemed to poke out more with his nervous tone.

“ I’m not telling you that, I don’t know if I can trust you yet. “ The robot’s green eyes rolled in their sockets as he plugged a familiar usb into the computer. 

“ Well- you’re the one who kidnapped me, so how do I know if I can trust you? “ The blonde asked quietly, seeming very confused. He tilted his head, not quite understanding the logic the robot was using. He kidnapped him, but doesn’t know if he can trust him?? Then why kidnap him in the first place???

“ Are you always this annoying? “ The simulacrum turned his chair to look at the blonde, tilting his head as if he was asking a genuine question. He almost seemed amused by the human. 

“ Are you always this mean? “ Elijah squinted his eyes, tilting his head. He wasn’t very happy with his predicament at all, seeing as he was now injured and in an unknown place. How long had he been asleep? God, his boss was gonna kill him- he didn’t even have his phone on him.

The robot rolled his eyes once more, turning back to the screens. The blonde on the couch slowly moved closer to the screens, tilting his head to get a better look. Were those the Vinson files he decoded.. ? Right- that’s what the robot was looking for in the first place. He observed the screen, looking for some kind of name for the thing.

“ Koga. “ The robot spoke, gaining a confused look from the small programmer. “ Nosy. “ The simulacrum translated, rolling his eyes. Elijah sighed, scooting himself back into the couch. He winced as he moved the wrong way, causing a sharp pain to shoot through his back.

“ Be careful, would you? I worked hard on not letting you bleed out. “ He didn’t take his eyes off of the computer as he spoke. It was then the small drone came whizzing towards the small blonde, examining him. The drone beeped quietly, poking his shoulder and earning a wince from him. “ Hack, geuleul naebeolyeodwo. “ 

“ Well then maybe don’t make me bleed out in the first place... “ Elijah mumbled, looking back up to the hacking robot. “ What’s your name, anyways? If you have one, that is... “ 

“ If you must know, my name is Crypto. “

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations !!
> 
> joesonghabnida - sorry  
> koga - nosy  
> geuleul naebeolyeodwo - leave him alone


	3. Uh Oh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah takes a nap and Crypto finds out some fucked up shit.

Elijah had been at Crypto’s place for a day, as the simulacrum insisted he stayed while he healed. The blonde tried to tell him that it’d take too long and that he had a job, but the simulacrum didn’t budge. He eventually agreed, as it would be nicer than work anyways. At least here someone was actually making sure he was taking care of himself.. Though, he knew once he went back home that his boss wouldn’t be happy. He knew his boss would make a thing out of it, and that was the last thing he wanted. 

Currently, he was sitting on the hacker robot’s couch, watching him work. He had been flipping through tv channels all day, and hadn’t found anything really interesting at all. So, he resorted to watching the hacker work. “ Are you just going to sit there and stare, baegchi? “ The simulacrum questioned, taking a quick glance at the boy.

“ I’m not sure what else you want me to do. “ Elijah shrugged, blinking at the simulacrum. There wasn’t much he could do really- he didn’t have his phone, and he didn’t have a way to work on any of his assignments either. So, he simply watched.

“ The TV? You could eat? Take a nap?? “ Crypto looked at him, almost as if he was annoyed, yet amused. The boy just slumped into the couch in response, groaning like an annoyed teenager. 

“ There’s nothing good on tv, i’m not hungry, and i’m not tired. “ Elijah sighed, fidgeting with the zipper on one of the couch cushions he was laying on.

“ Well, then wallow. “ The simulacrum almost made an amused chuckling noise, but stopped himself. He wasn’t supposed to be joking around with someone he kidnapped. He had work to do. 

[]

Eventually, Crypto seemed to be getting tired- the robot needed sleep..? Odd. He made a yawning sound, turning his computer monitors off. He turned to look at Elijah, who had fallen asleep about an hour or two ago. The boy seemed quite peaceful in his sleep, his messy blonde hair covering his pretty blue eyes.. did he just describe his eyes as pretty? He most certainly did not. No. He needed to carry him to the room he was letting him stay in, no point in letting an injured man sleep on an uncomfy couch.

So, that’s exactly what he did. He rose from his chair, stretching his robotic limbs before picking the small human up bridal style. He carried him into the hallway, the small drone following behind him curiously. He entered the small room, laying the boy down in the bed and putting the blanket on him before turning to leave.

As he turned to close the door, he noticed Hack hovering over the small boy. “ Hack, come on. “ 

The drone turned to him, shaking violently and quietly beeping as if to say ‘ no, i’m staying in here ‘. The simulacrum sighed, shaking his head in response.

“ No, Hack I- You know what, fine- just don’t wake him up, yeah ? “ Crypto sighed, closing the door quietly behind him. He walked through the hallway, turning the light off behind him. He turned off the lamp in the kitchen, as well as the one in the living room as he turned on the tv. He laid down on the couch, flipping the channel over to the news. He needed some boring form of media to lull him to sleep.

The simulacrum barely listened to whatever the reporter was droning on about, something about the missing case of a girl named Katy..? He didn’t listen in until he heard the girl’s last name- Jennings. Katy Jennings. Wasn’t that Elijah’s last name... ? 

Crypto sat up, looking at the TV screen with interest. A girl named Katy Jennings had been reported missing, the lead suspect being her brother... Elijah Jennings. She’d gone missing earlier that morning, following the report was a report of a disturbance within the brother’s home, and the police linked the two crimes together. There was substantial evidence that there was some type of struggle in Elijah’s house that lead to the kidnapping and maybe even murder of Katy Jennings. But- Elijah couldn’t have done that... he was with Crypto whenever she was last seen. Elijah was innocent.

The simulacrum seemed quite confused, trying to figure out what to do. If he told Elijah, the boy might want to look for her, but that would mean he’d be in public view and would probably get taken in custody. He couldn’t let that happen, he needed Elijah’s skills for something. He obviously knew just how to get past Vinson’s firewalls and rigged coding, so he’d be quite useful to keep around. He couldn’t tell him, he’d have to make sure he didn’t know. 

He’d make sure Elijah wasn’t aware of his sister’s kidnapping and potential murder.


	4. Breakfast Between a Hacker and a Simulacrum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a hacker and a robot simply eat breakfast with an odd tension in the air.

Elijah blinked his eyes open, awaking from another oddly pleasant sleep. He felt much better sleeping here, he actually got a full night's rest AND managed to wake up early. He carefully sat up, stretching as he glanced towards the window. Hey- that drones in here. He tilted his head at the small drone curiously, earning a few soft little beeps as if it were wishing him a good morning. He smiled, chuckling softly as he gave a curious eyebrow raise. " Goodmorning to you too, then. "

He carefully stood up, stretching his limbs a bit more before heading towards the door. He reached the door, opening it as the drone whizzed past him. He curiously chuckled, listening to the drone rapidly beeping in the living room. The boy simply assumed that the drone was simply informing the simulacrum that he had awoken. He walked out into the hallway, observing the empty walls as he made his way to the living room. Usually, people would have family portraits or photos on the walls, but these were simply void- empty.

" Joh-eun achim. " Crypto spoke in that same, soft, cold voice as usual, giving him a soft nod of recognition as the blonde entered the living room. " Are you hungry? " The simulacrum asked without looking up from his computer, continuing his file-searching. He'd found almost all of the info he needed for now, but there was still some he was missing.

" Yeah, but I was planning on going out to get something to eat. I think my back's healed up pretty good these past two days. " He stretched, wincing a bit as he moved in just the wrong way. He wasn't wrong though, his back had healed up a good bit, but not fully. The simulacrum, however, seemed alarmed for a moment. Maybe he was just worried about the boy's back. Why would he be? He was the one that caused the injury in the first place, even if it was accidental. 

" You should stay in. It's cold outside, it'll make the injury hurt worse, babo. I'll cook you something. " The simulacrum stood up, stretching his shoulders in one of the most unholy ways possible before making his way over to the kitchen.

" No, no it's fine, it's just a bit of pain, I can take it. " He chuckled, tilting his head as he watched the simulacrum. 

" Ani, I insist. It'll save you money. " The simulacrum didn't seem to take no for an answer, turning on one of the stove's burners. To be completely honest, the simulacrum didn't know how to cook much so he really hoped the boy liked eggs. He buttered the pan, bringing out the eggs and some cheese. He also really hoped he liked his scrambled eggs cheesy. The boy seemed to watch him with interest, simply sitting at the table with his head resting on his chin. He also looked like he was examining the sim from afar. He was quite interesting- was he a normal robot or a simulacrum? He acted too human to be normal, so he had to be a simulacrum, right? Then, was Crypto his real name? How did he become a simulacrum? These were questions he couldn't just ask, could he?

" You must be great at staring contests. " Crypto spoke quietly, tilting his head curiously up at the boy as he plated the scrambled eggs. Shit- he must've zoned out staring at the simulacrum. Quick, think fast-

" Yeah actually, that's why all my classmates hated me. " Smooth Elijah, smooth. The sim tilted his head the other way, sitting down at the table and giving the boy his scrambled eggs. He made an amused sound, watching as the boy nodded a thank you, beginning to eat the eggs.

" That's why? Are you sure it wasn't because you're awkward and can't come up with a good response? " Wow, this simulacrum was kinda mean. Either mean or brutally honest, who knows. The blonde rolled his eyes, making a mock laugh as if to say ' haha, funny joke '. He continued to eat his eggs, reaching for the tv remote and turning it on. He flinched a bit as the noise of static filled the air- the cable wasn't working..?

" I got rid of the cable, I didn't use it anyways. Use that- " The simulacrum pointed one of his odd, black-tipped fingers to a tv streaming service. The boy just softly nodded, clicking on the streaming service and trying to find something interesting. Hey, a movie series about wizards. Looks interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joh-eun achim = Goodmorning  
> babo = fool  
> Ani = no


End file.
